"Thank you for dropping her home, Heir Demiliore!" Lin Houtian lightly smiled and drew his hand forward to greet him.
Keith smiled in his heart at the actions of the man, who pretended as if everything was fine in his life, and tried to assert dominance over him.
"He's not here to drop me!" Qingyue severely said.
"It's good to see you too, Mr Lin." He shook his hand. "But Qingyue has brought me here to see President Lin. I was informed that he is not feeling well."
The words of Keith made Houtian frown, and he kept his dissatisfaction at his daughter's rudeness in his heart.
"My father is in good hands, Heir Demiliore. And our family doctors have advised him to get some rest."
"It won't hurt to let me give him a quick check up. Aunt Celine is really worried, and if it wasn't for her ailing health, I would have given in her demands to bring her here." He seriously said. "She made me promise that I will give President Lin a check up."
"How's she?" Houtian asked, but there was not really any concern in his voice about the health of his wife.
"Stressed." Keith sighed. "Her immune system is weakening because of it. And for now, we must keep her away from anything that can negatively affect her mental health."
Qingyue, who was standing right next to him, couldn't help but smile at his words. Her mother was absolutely fine, and he was playing her father effortlessly.
Lin Houtian frowned deeper when he saw the smile on his daughter's face, but he was wise enough to not say anything to her right now. He did not want to make a scene in front of an outsider.
"Take him to your Grandfather's room." He nodded to them, and Qingyue unabashedly grabbed Keith's hand right in front of her father's eyes before leading him away.
Her action immensely dissatisfied her father, who clenched his fists tightly and severely looked at their leaving backs. The calm expression he had been wearing was completely gone, replaced by a hideous look where his face was turning redder with every passing second.
"Grandpa!" Qingyue heartbreakingly called out when she found the old man weakly lying on his bed and vacantly staring at the roof.
Her call did work like a magic, because all of a sudden, a sparkle appeard in his aged greying eyes, and a frail smile curved on his lips.
"Qingyue." He hoarsely, but lovingly called out to his granddaughter. "You look beautiful today, my child." He said as soon as she sat on the bed, holding his hand.
"I always look beautiful!" She cutely pouted and then severely looked at the old man. "You promised me that you would not comprise with your health. I was not even gone for a day and you suffered a heart-attack. You know how scared I was when Aunt Meiyin told me what happened?"
"It isn't anything serious." The old man shook his head, but under the narrowing eyes of his granddaughter, he lightly smiled and finally apologized. "Sorry."
Qingyue nodded her head to his words as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"Aunt Meiyin told me that you had an argument with your son..."
"He's your father, my child." The old man sighed, knowing well that the relationship between father and daughter was not smooth right now, and he could not really blame her for it. "How's Celine?" He changed the subject and asked.
"She's fine." Qingyue informed him with a smile, and then glanced at Keith before smile brightly at the old man. "I brought Keith to check up on you."
"You look well, Heir Demiliore!" The old man turned his eyes to the young man who was silently looking at the ECG readings.
"Thank you, President Lin." He smiled and then approched the bed. "May I?" He asked for permission.
"Yes." The old unhesitatingly nodded.
The nurse who was taking care of him wanted to intervene when Keith opened his shirt and started taking off the electrodes, but the old man raised his hands and stopped her.
Qingyue obediently stood up and gave room to Keith to sit on the old man's left side, after which he placed his hand on the old man's chest and closed his eyes.
Lin Wudao felt tremors in his body from time to time, but he remained calm, and finally after a few minutes, a soothing warmth engulfed his chest, which made it easier for him to breathe.
His heartrate started rising steadily, before eventually calming down, and even if he could not be sure about it, he felt that it was beating smoothly now.
Qingyue happily shed tears when she saw her grandfather's complexion visibly improving, and her heart felt even more grateful to Keith than it already did.
"You should be fine now." Keith lightly smiled when he opened his eyes and took his hand off. "Let's try sitting up." He said and then helped the old man to sit up on the bed. "Breathe." He instructed and old man Wudao did as asked. "Again, and deeper."
"How are you feeling Grandfather?" Qingyue happily asked when Keith finally helped the old man stand up and walk.
"It feels refreshing!" He admitted and the gently patted Keith's shoulder. "Thank you, young man!"
"You're welcome, President Lin." He graciously accepted the gratitude and poitley smiled. "If you would allow me, I ask you to not take any medication the doctors have prescribed to you other than the supplements. And I want you to follow the diet that I suggest."
"I will do as you say." The old man unhesitantly nodded his head.
Keith nodded back to him and then picked up a notepad and pen from the study table before writing down a healthy diet chart for the old man.
"Please make sure that he strictly follows it. And all the soups need to be served warm, not hot." He handed then diet chart to the nurse, who went through it before eventually nodding her head.
Qingyue also took a picture of the diet chart to save it on her phone, and then she excused herself to go check on her step-mother and younger brother.
"Yue told me that you are good at chess." The old man intently said, and Keith nodded his head with a smile.
"I am just better than her."
Soon the two of them sat down at a small table and assembled a Chessboard for their game.
"White or Black?"
"Black." Keith said and allowed the old man to make the first move.
The first few moves were all the routine moves, before Wudao made an unconventional move with his Knight, starting to trap Keith.
"Celine informed me that you are getting married on Monday." The old man suddenly said.
Keith lightly smiled at the timing of the old man. And he could see that they were not going to play chess only on the board.
"Yes." He nodded his head. "And I would be grateful if you attend it, President Lin."
"You have done a lot for us, Young man. Of course, I would come." He readily accepted and then changed the subject. "And consider me impressed, Young Man. You managed to shake lots of old bones by getting your hands on Gouzo's business in Sameran. Mind telling me how you managed to do it?"
"Thank you. I can not reveal the details, but I made an offer he could not refuse. It involved a lot more than just monetary value, but in the end, it was still a business deal." He said he could not give him the details, but he deliberately shed some light on some key details, making the old man nod to him and not ask anything more about it.
"What do you think of my granddaughter, Heir Demiliore?" He finally asked what he cared about.
"She's special to me." He unhesitantly said.
"A friend? Or do you desire something more?"
It was a straightforward, but a difficult question, and Keith took his time before he answered it.
"I suppose I do see a friend in her." He smiled. "But I also see a beautiful lady, both in looks and mind, who I would not mind spending my entire life with. In fact, I desire it."
His honest admission made then old man smile, and nod his head.
"You are a tricky man, Heir Demiliore. A mind that is hard to see through." He smiled some more after witnessing what happened on the board.
"Forgive me, President Lin." He chuckled. "Checkmate!"
"Interesting..." The old man lightly laughed with a gleam in his eyes. "Let's have another game."
"Of course!" Keith nodded his head.
"I have never seen her happier ever since Celine got better." Wudao said in the middle of the game. "And today, the happiness in her eyes was brighter than ever."
"She accomplished something yesterday, and it holds great importance to her." He informed him.
"And I suppose it involved you?" He asked.
"It did." He nodded his head, not denying his words.
"The people who are capable of making you happy are also capable of deeply hurting you, Heir Demiliore." Wudao lightly said. "Young love is beautiful, exhilarating, but it is just as dangerous. Especially when the people involved have a lot to lose."
Keith stayed silent and only nodded his head in acknowledgement.
"I can see that she can not hurt you, but you can hurt her, Young Demiliore." His words were light but confident.
"There's a lot more to things than what meets the eyes, President Lin." He chuckled and raised his head to meet the old man's gaze. "She's special to me. And I am not ashamed to admit that I deeply care about her."
"I see..." Wudao nodded and then turned his attention back on the board. "My granddaughter is a smart girl, Heir Demiliore. And I would only advise you to do one thing. Always be honest with her, and you will overcome all your differences."
"I will always keep your words in my mind." Keith nodded his head and then continued with the game of Chess.
Lin Wudao put up an honorable fight, but in the end, he fell short and graciously accepted his defeat.
"She's mistaken if she thinks she can beat you if she manages to beat me." He chuckled and wrapped up the board, not willing to play more.
"I am just too good for her. But it isn't like she doesn't have her own forte. I am quite envious of her Calligraphy Skills..."
The two of them soon engaged in a warm chat about the girl they cared about, forgoing the passage of time. And sometime during their chat, unbeknownst to them, a beautiful girl with gorgeous grey eyes ended up eavesdropping on them.
There was a beautiful smile on her face as she listened to their words, and there was also a beautiful blush adorning her face that could even make the Fairies envy her.
Too bad that Keith missed the opportunity to save that smile in his memories.
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